SEC INSIDER

Malzahn in awe of Auburn’s dominating performance

The Sports Xchange

October 23, 2016 at 3:19 pm.

Oct 22, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA;  Auburn Tigers receiver Eli Stove (12) gets past Arkansas Razorbacks defensive back Jared Collins (29) and scores a touchdown during the first quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. Photo Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Oct 22, 2016; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers receiver Eli Stove (12) gets past Arkansas Razorbacks defensive back Jared Collins (29) and scores a touchdown during the first quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium. Photo Credit: John Reed-USA TODAY Sports

Can we get a wow?

How about another?

Auburn coach Gus Malzahn, contemplating Saturday night’s 56-3 win over 17th-ranked Arkansas, gave his team two thumbs up and two big “wows” in his postgame press conference.

Asked about his offensive line and a running game that posted 543 rushing yards – with an average of 9.5 per carry – Malzahn said, “Wow, did we?”

Asked about holding the SEC’s leading rusher, Rawleigh Williams III, to 22 yards on 13 carries, Malzahn said, “That’s a wow thing, really.”

Wow, it’s really time to talk about Auburn.

The Tigers are 5-2 overall, 3-1 in the SEC West, riding a four-game winning streak that started with an 18-13 victory that got LSU coach Les Miles fired. Auburn doesn’t need any help to win the division; all it needs is to keep winning and then beat top-ranked Alabama in the Iron Bowl. (Oh, is that all?)

The Tigers have road games at Ole Miss (Saturday), at Georgia (Nov. 12) and at the Crimson Tide (Nov. 26). That’s some tall timber right there, but, as they say, defense travels. And Auburn, under first-year coordinator Kevin Steele, has itself a heck of a defense.

Auburn is third nationally in scoring defense (14.1 points per game) and only Texas A&M topped 20 points against the Tigers. Even Deshaun Watson and high-powered Clemson managed a mere 19 points in the season opener.

“Our defense, I can’t say enough about it,” said Malzahn, whose team jumped from 21st to 15th in the AP poll Sunday. “They’re improving each week. … Our defensive front has been very good all year.”

And any offense that can run for 543 yards against Arkansas — the most ever in a regular-season SEC game — has to be respected. Sophomore quarterback Sean White wasn’t thought to be the true zone-read running threat that Malzahn’s offense needs to reach its highest gear, but White’s efficient passing game has been a blessing while his feet have been good enough.

White had a 41-yard run vs. Arkansas.

“Sean White continues to improve,” Malzahn said Saturday night. “He had a couple of big runs, and we talked preseason about the quarterback needing to be a runner. He is definitely sufficient enough when called upon.”

It’s all just more evidence that with Malzahn, you never know. Look at his previous Auburn teams:

2013: Auburn was unranked in the preseason but ended up playing Florida State in the national championship game.

2014: Auburn started sixth in the AP poll, but finished 22nd at 8-5.

2015: Auburn again started sixth in the AP poll, but finished unranked at 7-6.

2016: Auburn was unranked in the preseason and will finish …

“We’re in a good spot moving forward,” Malzahn said.

Could be. Point is, it’s wise to not discount Auburn’s hot streak as a fluke. The Tigers are always defying the odds, one way or another.

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